The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, February 14th, 2001. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ****************************** Voter anger in WA The rising anger of the people with the Court government's brutal emphasis on profits and privatisation swept the Coalition of Liberals and Nationals from office in the West Australian State election last weekend. by Vic Williams The issues that concerned the voters were many. Workers at the polling booths found voters had not forgotten the betrayal of the Democrats in supporting Howard's GST. High petrol prices were blamed on Court and Howard who refused to ease the excise pressure. By closing beds in protest at poor pay and conditions, nurses exposed the hospital crisis and sheeted the blame home to Court and his Health Minister. People questioned the cost of the Bell Tower and the big contracts offered for the proposed monster Convention centre. The neglect of the countryside was highlighted by high petrol and fuel prices and the bank closures in country towns. The One Nation party fed on the insecurity and exploitation of the poorer people, especially in the countryside. Overall, they won 10 per cent of the vote. It was much higher in the countryside where their candidates polled up to 20 per cent. The Liberals lost a decisive percentage of their primary vote while the Labor victory came from only a small increase in primary votes. There was a strong flow of preferences to Labor from the roughly one third of the electorate that refused to vote for the major parties. The main beneficiaries of these voters were One Nation and the Greens WA. The demolition of the Court Government was highlighted by the defeats of five government Ministers. Graham Kierath, author of the government's anti-trade union industrial laws has gone and Labor has pledged to get rid of the Court Government's legislation. Police Minister Prince, whose one-time partner was involved in problems with a trust, was defeated with a 15.8 per cent swing against him. Fair Trading Minister Shave, who was shadowed by a finance broking scandal, lost 17 per cent of his primary vote and looks to be beaten probably by Independent, Denise Brailey, who waged a six-year-long fight to protect small investors. Aboriginal Affairs and Family and Children Services Ministers both lost their seats. Health Minister Day is hanging over the trap door hoping for postal votes to save him. The Labor Government of Geoff Gallop has a majority of two to five seats, with possible support from two of the four independents. Many will welcome Carol Martin, the first Aboriginal woman elected to an Australian Parliament. The MUA played a big part in getting her elected in Kimberley, and she has acknowledged union assistance. With other new members, she will strengthen the left in the caucus and make possible the implementation of Geoff Gallop's promise to get rid of Kierath's savage industrial laws. Labor has also promised that another ship will be put on the trading run to the NorthWest of the State. Continued actions by nurses will ensure the Labor Government acts on the hospital and health crisis and the needs of nurses. Greens make big gains The election will affect the Upper House situation. The Greens WA increased their percentage of votes -- up to 17 per cent in Fremantle. The Greens WA expect to win five or six seats in the WA Upper House which would deliver them the balance of power. "Forests were a decisive issue in the elections", they say. Giz Watson, Christine Sharpe and Jim Scott have been re-elected and Dee Margetts (former Greens WA Federal Senator) and Lee Bell look likely winners. With the strong country vote One Nation could win three seats. One Nation took votes from the Democrats in metropolitan seats and the Democrats will probably lose both their Upper House seats. The Democrats will have no seats. If the loss of votes by Liberal candidates in the Legislative Assembly ballot transfers to the Upper House polling, Liberals could lose seats there. The WA elections show that economic and social problems are affecting many people both in the country and in the cities and this is influencing the political framework. Although the Labor Party will form a government, the most outstanding feature of the election is the 30 percent vote for candidates outside of the two-party system. It indicates a large and growing percentage of the people no longer trust either the Coalition parties or the Labor Party. It is necessary to examine the wide range of One Nation policies and actions to estimate the direction and influence they could have in the future. ********************************************************** -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
